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April 5, 2007

UK: Three Muslims Charged Over 7/7 Conspiracy

On Thursday March 22, three Muslim men were arrested. Two of these were apprehended as they attempted to board a Pakistan-bound flight at Manchester Airport. The third man was taken shortly after that, at a house in Leeds. They were then taken to Paddington Green police station in west London, for further questioning.

The government's independent reviewer of terror laws, Lord Carlile, told the BBC: "Anybody who imagined that this had simply been treated as four lone wolves or a lone pack of wolves on July 7, 2005 is very wrong. There is a lot of work going on."

A police statement was made at the time - "We need to know who else, apart from the bombers, knew what they were planning. Did anyone encourage them? Did anyone help them with money, or accommodation?"

Today, according to the BBC, the Times, Telegraph and Guardian, the three men were charged with conspiracy to cause explosions at transport or tourist locations. This related to the attacks on three London Transport tube trains and one Number 30 bus which took place on July 7, 2005.

Shehzad Tanweer (22), Mohammed Sidique Khan (30) and Hasib Hussain (18), were Muslims from the north of England who carried out the 7/7 bombings. The fourth bomber was Jermaine (Jamal) Lindsay (19), a Jamaican born convert to Islam who lived in Aylesbury Buckinghamshire. Hasib Hussein missed his chance to attack a tube train when King's Cross Station was closed after bombs set off by the others had caused the station to be closed. Instead, he decided to board a Number 30 bus. When he reached Tavistock Square he blew up his rucksack bomb. Sitting on the top deck, the roof of the bus was ripped off and thirteen people died.

In all, 52 people were killed (excluding the bombers) and hundreds were injured. Many of the tube victims lost limbs. The explosive used in the attacks was triacetone triperoxide, a chemical they had manufactured in the bath of an apartment in Leeds, which had been specially rented for the operation.

The leader of the cell was Mohammed Sidique Khan. He and Shehzad Tanweer had gone to Pakistan before their attack, where they met with Al Qaeda members and filmed their farewell videos. Khan had been under MI5 (UK homeland security) surveillance a year before the bombings, but for some reason MI5 decided that Khan was not "important" enough to continue monitoring. It later transpired that he had also been to the Philippines, where he had links with a terror group affiliated to Al-Qaeda, the Jemaah Islamiyah. Shortly before the attack, both Tanweer and Khan had attended an outward bound school in Wales, where they were seen on a video white-water rafting.

The men who were charged today under the Explosive Substances Act (1883) have been named as Mohammed Shakil (30), Waheed Ali (23), Sadeer Saleem (26). They all come from Beeston, the southern part of Leeds where Tanweer, Mohammed Sidique Khan and Hossainhad lived.

Shakil, Ali and Saleem were charged with "unlawfully and maliciously" conspiring with the four bombers between November 1 and June 29 2005. Sue Hemming, who is head of the Counter Terrorism Division at the Crown Prosecution Service said: "The allegation is that they were involved in reconnaissance and planning for a plot with those ultimately responsible for the bombings on the 7 July before the plan was finalized."

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command, said: "Detail of the evidence must wait. But it is probably fair to describe it as a complicated jigsaw with thousands of pieces. We now have enough of the pieces in the right place for us to be able to see the picture, but it is far from complete. Because of that, the search is not over. I firmly believe that there are other people who have knowledge of what lay behind the attacks in July 2005 - knowledge that they have not shared with us. In fact, I don't only believe it. I know it for a fact. For that reason the investigation continues."

"Our aim was quite simple. To find out not only who was responsible for setting off the bombs, but also who else was involved. As I said in July 2005, we needed to find out who else knew what was going to happen on July 7. Who encouraged the bombers? Who supported them? Who helped them?"

Clarke acknowledged that the charging of the men may bring up bad memories for the victims and relatives of 7/7/ He said: "For others there may be some relief that after such a length of time there is some visible progress in an investigation that has had to be kept secret."

He said that since 7/7, 15,000 statements had been taken, 19,000 leads had been followed. He still appealed for anyone with more information to come forward.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 5, 2007 9:10 PM

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